Neocities seems incredibly important in a moment where human art is being overshadowed. Users like RHFZ recognise the importance of its permissive censorship policy and lack of invasive “algorithming”, which they point out leads to fewer trolls. “You can’t gamify the platform by provoking others. ‘Rage-baiting’ doesn’t lead to a big public payoff.” RHFZ did float their concerns over public vilification of uncensored web hosting and its capacity to accommodate radical/extremist material in the wrong hands, though moving through Neocities today, that scenario feels pretty far off.

Browsing Neocities feels as close to the wholesome notion of ‘surfing the web’. Exploration is addictive and the idea that artists can freely host their own galleries and visually curate their personalities seems far more utopian than the offline art world. Part of the formula is that no one is there to tell you that you’re breaking the rules. You have full control over how you marry your version of visual creativity with intimate storytelling. Because of this, pages that associate themselves with harmless offline fringe movements are prolific and entering some pages on Neocities can feel like stepping into a personal universe, an artist’s studio. These sites give way to an incredibly pure, child-like experience where the objective is not to monetise, go viral or be collected. Yes, it’s online, but it’s as human an experience as any – getting lost in the crevices of art and creation, exchanging knowledge and art. I hope it continues to grow.

–  Isaac Judah Dymond

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